Newark police: Violence may have been chief motivation in brutal Prudential Center assaults

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerFive people were assaulted as they left a sold-out Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert at the Prudential Center on Saturday night.

NEWARK — The mob of teens who attacked and robbed five people who eaving a sold-out Prudential Center concert Saturday night were "laughing" during the brutal assaults, and may have set out to injure people rather than rob them, Newark police officials said this morning.

"I think the taking of the cell phones was secondary. I think the main focus was to assault them," DeMaio said. "Some of the kids were laughing through the assaults."

The attacks, which happened just moments after 20,000 fans exited a sold-out Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at the arena Saturday, left a Pennsylvania man with a shattered eye socket and a New Providence father unconscious and bleeding in front of his 14-year-old son, according to police reports obtained by The Star-Ledger.

The attacks were captured on video, according to DeMaio, who said the assailants were a group of 10 to 15 "thugs," all approximately 15 years old. Police officials are considering releasing the video to the public. DeMaio said the video shows the group rushing down Broad Street, punching and kicking people along the way.

City officials called the attacks "isolated and unfortunate," and stressed that the area around the arena is safe.

"The city continues to provide police protection around the arena that goes above and beyond what is practiced at other arenas across the country," city spokeswoman Anne Torres said in a statement.

Though the attacks came a month after a verbal war between Mayor Cory Booker and the New Jersey Devils over revenue sharing and the city’s decision to shrink the arena security detail from 20 police officers to 14, DeMaio said 23 officers were assigned to the Prudential Center on Saturday night.

But that wasn’t enough for the relatives of a Livingston teenager who suffered multiple fractures to his cheekbone and eye during the assaults. The victim’s father, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his son’s identity, said he plans to keep his family out of Newark.

"I think that (my son) has a feeling like he never wants to go back there again," the man said.

The boy’s father said he had concerns about letting his son attend the concert because of Newark’s crime-plagued reputation, but thought the area around the arena was safe.

"I’m really disappointed," he said. "That area is really much worse than I thought and I don’t think they should plan to use that center or use the city for cultural events anymore."

Asked whether fans at upcoming Devils playoff games should be worried about similar attacks, DeMaio said he would not allow anything like Saturday night’s assaults to happen again.

"Feel safe when you come to Newark," he said. "Feel safe when you come to the arena."